Christ is truly risen! Alleluia! Starting from the Easter Vigil until Pentecost Sunday (May 24), we contemplate as one community of faith the renewing and reinvigorating power of the triumph of Christ over death. We are indeed people of the Resurrection! O, death where is your sting?! Death does not have the final word, but eternal life with Christ has the final say.
Reflecting on my Holy Week experience this year, I must say that every year has given me a new aspect of faith to ponder upon. This year was Father Mark’s and my first Holy Week here at St. Cecilia’s. It was a very spiritual journey for me. Being a priest now for over five years, the liturgical preparation for Holy Week has now been transformed more like a prayer. Before, I was more consumed with the logistical aspects of the preparation, making sure that the checklist was complete and every detail was scrutinized. I still made sure that all the logistical preparations were covered, but I found more time to pray and internalize the true spirit of the celebrations for the Triduum this time. I cannot deny that it was physically exhausting, especially preparing and celebrating in two languages (English and Spanish) for Holy Thursday and Good Friday, and we only had a 30 minute window between the two services, but I must say that it was one of the most spiritually enriching celebrations that I have celebrated in my priestly ministry. It was a deeply spiritual experience that I would not mind doing again and again. After my last Mass in Spanish on Easter Sunday, I got a text message from a priest-friend. He said “It is finished!” – quoting the last sentence of Christ on the cross. I responded “Alleluia!” He just laughed. It might have been the busiest week for us priests, but it has personally enriched and deepened my relationship with the Lord. It re-ignited a new fire of faith and priestly zeal in me. I hope your Holy Week was also spiritually recharging and
uplifting.
I would like to thank the Hispanic Neo-Catechumenate group in our parish, whom I asked to decorate the altar of repose during Holy Thursday’s Adoration. They did a great job transforming the Parish Center into a garden where we could accompany the Lord in his last hours before his crucifixion. We are also very grateful for the Knights who acted as sentinels during the Adoration. Our two main choirs (9am and 10:45am) worked really hard to provide us wonderful music that allowed us to enter into the spirit of the celebration for the Triduum. We thank Steve Hurd and Vicke Hammes for their leadership.
As you can see, our sanctuary is beautifully decorated for the Easter season. We thank the St. Therese Guild for their continuous dedication in beautifying our sanctuary. Marcia Whitelock, Georgann Truszkowski, Rose Stormer together with Jeff & Scott
Peterson, Rick Evers and Mark Betterman labored with love in making our sanctuary festive for the season. Our new altar cloth is courtesy of John Malek from the Blessings from Heaven bookstore.
The liturgy would be handicapped without our very able altar servers led by our homegrown seminarian, John Hesla. The Holy Week liturgies ran smoothly with John’s direction. It’s a great training for him as he prepares for his theological studies in Rome for the next school year. We might see him next year serving in Papal Masses!
As we celebrate Divine Mercy this weekend, let us relish into the joy of Easter by plunging into the loving embrace of Christ who offered his very life out of his loving mercy for us. What we celebrate today is not a separate reality from the Resurrection of Christ, as if the Feast of the Divine Mercy is only inserted during the Easter season, but rather, this feast springs forth from the fact that because Christ has triumphed over death and sin that we have a greater reason to trust in the mercy of God. We thank John Malek from Blessings from Heaven in organizing our annual Divine Mercy celebration. We have a special Mass this Sunday (April 12) for the celebration of the Divine Mercy at 5:30pm, preceded by confessions that will begin at 4:30pm. The Hispanic community too has an extensive Divine Mercy celebration that begins on Saturday (April 11) until Sunday with various activities and talks lined up. I wish we could combine the two celebrations since we form one community of faith, but our church will not accommodate everyone. The Hispanic community alone would fill the entire church, and the same thing can be said for our English-speaking community.
As some of you might have already heard, Deacon David Hammes will be transferred to another parish by the end of April. Archbishop Sample is moving him to St. Anthony’s in Tigard. We thank him for his many years of wonderful service to our parish, and we assure him of our prayers as he begins his new ministry at St. Anthony’s. To show our appreciation and gratitude for his long service to St. Cecilia’s, we are hosting a simple reception in his honor after the 9am Mass next Sunday, April 19 at the Activity
Center. It would great if you can join us for that celebration. – Fr. Cary